# LinkedIn

> [!NOTE]
>
> Before setting up LinkedIn in Orbit, your system administrator must create a Social database. See [Social media integrations](<https://help.apteco.com/en/admin/integration/social/index.md>) for prerequisites.

Orbit integrates with LinkedIn to provide direct campaigning with LinkedIn Ads. You can upload audience data and target specific contacts or companies directly from an Orbit journey.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Example use case**
>
> Your B2B software company wants to target technology executives at mid-size UK companies, and you have a database of potential customers with email addresses and company information. Use LinkedIn Ads through an Orbit campaign to target those executives.

## Understanding LinkedIn's campaign structure

LinkedIn organises campaigns through the Campaign Manager with three levels:

- **Campaign Group**: You define an objective or purpose for campaigns such as leads or brand awareness.
- **Campaign**: You can define:

  - Your audience and filters applied to the audience
  - The budget
  - UTM tracking
  - What type of ads you can use
  - The start and end date
- **Ads**: You create ads for your campaign which LinkedIn then uses to deliver to your audience.

Orbit Connects with the Campaign level and your Orbit campaign provides the audience list upload with inclusions and exclusions.

## How the Orbit upload process works

When you run your LinkedIn campaign:

1. Orbit sends your inclusion and exclusion files to LinkedIn
2. LinkedIn uses your mapped fields to match your data with their database
3. The system provides column headers so LinkedIn understands your match fields
4. LinkedIn processes the matching and returns a processed file
5. Orbit uploads the matched audience for broadcasting

## Connect to LinkedIn

To connect your LinkedIn account to Orbit:

1. Click your **avatar icon** in the top-right corner.
2. Click **Account Settings**.
3. Click **LinkedIn**.
4. Click **Continue with LinkedIn**.

You can then go through the verification process to grant Orbit access.

## Create a LinkedIn channel

To upload audiences and manage LinkedIn advertising campaigns in Orbit, you must create a LinkedIn channel.

To create your LinkedIn channel:

1. Click your **avatar icon** in the top-right corner.
2. Click **Application Settings**.
3. From the left-hand menu, click **Campaigning Channel Editor**, then **Edit**.
4. Click **\+ Item**.
5. Select **LinkedIn Ads Channel** from the dropdown.
6. Give your channel a meaningful name (e.g., **LinkedIn**) and organise the folder structure.
7. Click **Create**.

### Channel settings

#### Basic details

On the **Basic Details** tab:

1. Add your Orbit **Username**. This should be the user with permission to access LinkedIn.
2. Enter **Apteco** under **App**.
3. Enter your **LinkedIn Ads Account**.

   > **Note**
   >
   > This must be a verified business page/account, not personal.

#### Parameters

You can now set when your campaigns start and how long they run for.

On the **Parameters** tab:

1. Expand the **Schedule Start** dropdown and select either:

   - **Immediately**: Start campaigns as soon as you upload them
   - **Days**, **Weeks**, or **Months**: Schedule campaigns to start after a specific period
2. If you want a delayed schedule, select the number of Days, Weeks, or Months from the Schedule Start dropdowns.
3. Enter the delay period under **Time Span**.

   > **Note**
   >
   > Whatever you set in the channel applies to all related campaigns and uploads.

#### Output settings

On the **Output Settings** tab:

1. Select **Advert** under **Output Type**.
2. Under Broadcaster Action, select either **Upload and Advertise** or **Upload Only**.

   Upload and advertise:

   - Orbit uploads audiences and creates campaigns.
   - You assign campaigns to specific campaign groups.
   - Orbit provides reporting and campaign control.
   - You can turn campaigns on and off from Orbit.

   Upload only:

   - Orbit uploads your lists to LinkedIn's audience area.
   - You manually create and manage campaigns in LinkedIn.
   - No reporting data flows back to Orbit.
3. You now configure how Orbit matches your data with LinkedIn's audience database. Set how Orbit handles your target audience data under **Type**:

   - **Dated Audience**: Adds a timestamp to your audience file name
   - **Append**: Adds new contacts to an existing audience
   - **Overwrite**: Replaces all data in an existing audience
4. Choose your primary matching approach under **Match Type**:

   - **Company**: Match based on company information when you have broad industry data but lack specific contacts
   - **Contact**: Match based on individual contact details when you have specific email addresses and contact information
5. Set your **exclusion audiences** using the same fields as above.

> [!TIP]
>
> You can mix your inclusion and exclusion strategies.
>
> - Use **company** matching for broad exclusions (industries, regions, company types)
> - Use **contact** matching for specific exclusions (existing customers, competitors)

### Field mapping

Map your data fields to LinkedIn's required fields.

On the **Mapping** tab:

Select at least one company field and one contact field from the available options.

1. Click **\+ Add Variable**.
2. Choose the corresponding field from your system.

   > **Note**
   >
   > You must map at least one field in either company or contact sections to proceed. The more fields you map, the more LinkedIn can use in its matching process.
3. Click **Save All Changes**.

Your LinkedIn channel is now configured and you can now begin building your campaign journey.

## Use LinkedIn in a campaign

You can use LinkedIn Ads in your Orbit campaigns via the journey builder.

### Prerequisites

You need to have a configured LinkedIn channel before using LinkedIn Ads in a campaign. See [Creating a LinkedIn channel](<#create-a-linkedin-channel>).

> [!NOTE]
>
> Your channel setup determines which fields are mapped and how audiences are processed.

Your campaign behaviour depends on your channel configuration and whether you chose to **upload and advertise** or **upload only**.

### Add a LinkedIn Ads step

To add a LinkedIn Ads step to your campaign journey:

1. Go to **Campaigns**.
2. Either select an existing campaign or create a new one.
3. Choose a target segment for your campaign journey.
4. Click the **\+** on your journey where you want to add the LinkedIn Ads step.
5. Select **LinkedIn Ads** under Channels.
6. Click your new LinkedIn step and give it a meaningful name.
7. Click **Create**.

You can now configure your LinkedIn Ads step in the side panel.

### Configure your LinkedIn Ads step

To set up your journey step:

1. Select your **LinkedIn Ads Channel** from the dropdown menu.

   Orbit displays your mapped channel fields and shows which variables are used for company or contact matching.

   > **Note**
   >
   > This shows the data used in the upload process and how your audience data connects to LinkedIn's matching system. The LinkedIn matching process can take over 48 hours, depending on file size.
2. If Orbit detects a LinkedIn ad, expand the **LinkedIn Advert** dropdown and select it.
3. Give your **Inclusion Customer List Name** a file name.
4. Choose how LinkedIn targets your audience:

   - **Target audience only**: Uses only the contacts in your uploaded audience
   - **Target audience and lookalikes**: LinkedIn expands your audience to include similar profiles

   > **Note**
   >
   > LinkedIn allows you to add additional criteria within their platform, such as industry filters, engagement levels, or profile information like hobbies. Orbit uploads your audience data and LinkedIn applies these additional filters using an **OR** logic by default. You can change this to **AND** logic within LinkedIn if needed.
5. Set any exclusion audiences by clicking **\+ Add Audience**.

   The system creates an exclusion list with a timestamp.

   > **Note**
   >
   > The exclusion file name uses your audience name plus the timestamp.

### Personalisation fields

You can map additional variables on a campaign-by-campaign basis. These optional fields provide extra information about companies or contacts that might be useful for targeting.

Orbit displays any required content fields for that channel that weren't pre-mapped in the channel editor.

See [Message personalisation](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/campaigns/journey-builder/personalisation/index.md>).

To configure these fields:

1. Expand the **Optional Content Fields**.
2. Click **Add** to allow Orbit to create the required fields.

   > **Note**
   >
   > Orbit currently adds all available personalisation fields. If you only want specific fields like country or postcode, you must delete the fields you don't need and keep only the fields you want to use.
3. Click **\+ Add Variable** for each content field you want to map.
4. Search for and select the variables you want to use.

You've now mapped your additional content fields.

### Finalise your LinkedIn Ads step

To complete your LinkedIn Ads step configuration:

1. Add any objectives you want to apply to the step by clicking **\+ Add Objective**. See [Message objectives](<https://help.apteco.com/en/orbit/campaigns/journey-builder/objectives/index.md>).
2. Click **Apply**.

Your LinkedIn Ads step is now part of your campaign journey. Orbit runs the campaign according to your campaign schedule.